URBANA 2009: A Recap

The State of Christianity from Urbana 09 on Vimeo.

Hello and Happy New Year! 2010 is upon us and I am proud to say I have yet to accidentally write "09" in my journal, though "2010" still looks very futuristic to me. I feel like we should have flying cars and meals in pill form if we are going to be living in 2010. But, I digress. January is here and with it will come the new semester starting up next Monday. However, the biggest news around these parts is that Urbana 2009 has come and gone. Urbana is the missions conference for North American students hosted by InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA and Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship of Canada. It is held every three years. This was the 22nd Urbana and the second one to be held at the Edward Jones Dome here in the friendly city of Saint Louis. Nearly 17,000 students descended on downtown Saint Louis from December 27-31st, flooding the streets, sleeping in hotels, severely inflating the late-December income of restauranteurs, and learning about God's heart for the world and His call on their lives.

Your Part In God's Mission: Jim Tebbe from Urbana 09 on Vimeo.

The theme of the week was the "He Dwelled Among Us" and we primarily focused on the first four chapters of the Gospel of John. Each day would begin (as each day should) with Bible study. 250-1000 students gathered in each of 49 large meeting rooms in various hotels and convention centers downtown to study John together. After an hour and a half of what InterVarsity calls "inductive" or "manuscript" Bible study (the best method I have ever seen for studying the Bible in large groups), the students would return to the Edward Jones Dome for the morning session. These main sessions (morning and evening) included incredible and diverse worship, beautiful media and drama presentations, and powerful speakers. The afternoons consisted of optional seminars (40+ to choose from each day) on a wide variety of topics centering around taking the love of Jesus into difficult places on our campuses, in our cities, and around the world. If this wasn't enough content, there is also a gigantic book and resource store (courtesy of InterVarsity Press) and an overwhelming missions exhibition hall, filled with displays and volunteers from over 300 missions agencies, ready to help students process and discern what God's call might be on their lives. Thousands of students committed or re-committed their lives to Jesus. Thousands of students agreed to lead an evangelistic Bible study of John 1-4 for some of their friends who don't know Jesus. Thousands of students committed to at least short-term mission work around the world, hundreds of which committed to living among the poor and marginalized around the world long-term. The energy was amazing.

Suffice it to say, Urbana is an intense week for staff and students. But it is one of the most incredible experiences I have ever had. In 2006, God used Urbana to show me for the first time how BIG His Kingdom is. I worshiped in other languages for the first time. I spoke with missionaries who felt called to Native American tribes, fraternity students, impoverished people in Africa, and everything in between. I learned about racial reconciliation. I heard about Global Urban Treks for the first time and then found myself in the middle of a slum in Cairo less than two years later. It was a significant moment in my journey with Jesus and I was thrilled to have around 10 students from SLU experiencing it last week. I cannot wait to see how the Spirit uses Urbana to open their hearts to the poor and marginalized in our city, the broken hearts on our campus, and to our own need for Jesus to come and dwell among us at SLU.

Bringing the Kingdom of God down to Earth: Shane Claiborne from Urbana 09 on Vimeo.

While our 10 students were enjoying mixing in with the Urbana throng, I (along with all the other IV Staff) had a couple of jobs to attend to during the week. My primary Urbana job consisted of supervising all of the technical aspects of the morning Bible studies. Imagine this scenario: 49 large meeting rooms scattered all over downtown, each with a projector, several microphones, and a soundboard. In each room, one person I have never met is running a PowerPoint presentation through the projector while 4-7 microphone runners gather observations, questions, and analysis in the book of John from the 250-1000 students present. One teacher leads each room. If anything goes wrong with any of the equipment in any of those rooms, my phone vibrates with a frantic teacher or assistant on the other end. Sound stressful? Let me tell you - God was exceedingly gracious in keeping technical issues to a minimum at Urbana 09. For this, I am extremely grateful. In the evenings, I was an on-call driver assigned to help cart volunteers and speakers from their hotels to the Dome and back. This job was much less stressful, albeit the 1/2 zoo, 1/2 maze that is the one-way street laden downtown of Saint Louis. I had a blast meeting staff and students from all over the country, catching up with old friends who were in town, and hearing the fantastic stories from my students about their experiences at the event. Then, I crashed and spent the weekend recovering. Understandable, right?

Now that Urbana is over, my staff partner and I will be getting together this week to pray and continue discerning the next steps for SLU in the coming semester. We have a gameplan in mind but I can't wait to see how God shakes us up and leads us to go and dwell in those dark and unreached places on our campus. I am so thankful to have you along for the ride and I am excited to share the stories with you as we go. Peace to you in this new year!

Breakfast in the Evening, Breakfast in the Morning

The last 48 hours have been a blur. I guess my staff partner and I decided we wanted to be able to empathize with our final-exam-laden, stress-filled students when we planned the end of the semester. I feel a bit like we've arrived on the other end of a marathon that ended in a sprint to the finish. It's been a busy semester and, as our students hit the books extra hard this week, Esther and I can finally take a second to breathe (and update a blog!).

To get you up to speed, November ended on a high note here at SLU. Our month of investigative Bible studies (or GIGs) saw eight of our student leaders (around half of the core group) stepping forward to invite their friends to study Scripture with them, many for the first time. We are so proud of our students and the way that Jesus is calling them to take initiative on campus! All eight of these students are freshmen and sophomores which means that they have plenty of time left in college to be shaped by the Holy Spirit before heading out into the "real" world. It has been wonderful to watch our younger students step forward to lead the upperclassmen into mission on campus. How often the Kingdom turns our expectations and understandings of power and ability upside-down!

Now, on to the past few days. Last night was our annual Christmas party - Bacon 'n' Waffles 2009. As legend has it, the first InterVarsity leadership team at SLU was made up predominantly of men. When asked what they would like to eat at a Christmas party, these manly men responded "Bacon and waffles." And so it has been since before my time at SLU. The tradition continued this year as around 25 SLU students packed into my supervisor's house to eat dozens of waffles, seven pounds of bacon, and a myriad of toppings and side items. We saw familiar faces from years back and even from earlier this semester. We further developed relationships with newer students. We met a few folks for the first time. My students have become so invitational this semester and I am consistently blown away by how many new people I meet on a regular basis. They are so excited to see their friends meet Jesus and experience our quirky little community. I love it.

After the madness of last night and the subsequent clean-up efforts, I awoke this morning (barely) and headed to a brunch (yes, more breakfast food) that I co-hosted with one of SLU's Campus Ministry staff for students interested in Fraternity and Sorority ministry. Reaching out to the Greek organizations on our campus has been a growing seed in the back of my mind for nearly a year now. I was at a staff conference in December of last year when I first felt God compelling me to begin praying for the Greek community at SLU. I quickly texted one of my students who is in a fraternity to ask him to join me in prayer. A few months later, I gathered the students I have who are also in the Greek system and we began to talk and pray about what reaching out to the fraternities and sororities might look like on our campus. Another month went by and the Campus Ministry staff in charge of the Greek dormitory at SLU contacted me to talk about putting together a potential Greek Bible Study. As these opportunities to think and pray about this idea have continued to pour into my life, I have realized that God is calling me to further investigate Greek ministry. So, this morning, the Greek Campus Minister and I hosted a brunch for students in the Greek system that might also be interested in a similar ministry opportunity. Ten of us sat around a pile of muffins and I listened as they told me their stories of life in the system. I heard about their frustrations, their joys, and their hopes for a spiritual awakening in the fraternities and sororities at SLU. And I got excited. God is on the move here, people, and I think it could be really big. Keep reading next semester.

So the semester draws near to the end and our students get ready to head home for Christmas break. It's been a rollercoaster ride and I am so thankful to have you along the way with me. Blessings on you and yours this Advent season - may we all await His coming again resting in the grace and peace that His first coming affords.

Happy Thanks-GIG-ing!

Here in Saint Louis, where the temperatures in the past week have yet to fall below highs in the 60s with plenty of beautiful sunshine, there was some question as to whether or not November would ever actually arrive. However, as I write to you today, the skies have darkened with rain and this coffeeshop is filled with students in sweatshirts. Starbucks is pushing their red-cupped peppermint mochas. Target is aglow with tinsel and holiday music echoes through the aisles. The word "finals" is starting to float around campus, simultaneously encouraging and unnerving SLU students. All signs indicate: winter is officially on its way.

But, November didn't usher in just white chocolate and angst-ridden college kids; it also welcomed me back on campus at SLU! Thanks to your prayers and generosity, I am officially working on campus with students for 16 hours each week (Confused? Read this blog entry). Praise God for His great provision through the gifts of His people! While I'm very grateful for the 16 hours I get to spend with my kids each week, I do ask that you continue to pray for my fundraising so that I can bump up my hours on campus each week. At 85%, I get to spend 28 hours with them. At 100%, it will move to 32 hours on campus each week. I can't wait!

One of the reasons I was so anxious to get back on campus by November 1st was that my staff partner and I had consciously set aside November for a special evangelistic push way back in August when we were planning out the year. We pur our heads together and christened it "Thanks-GIG-ing Month" (clever, I know). In case you are unaware, a GIG (Group Investigating God) is how InterVarsity designates an evangelistic Bible study aimed at allowing people to encounter Jesus in Scripture for the first time while being guided by someone who is already following him. There is this fantastic story in the book of Acts where a guy named Philip meets an Ethiopian eunuch who is studying the book of Isaiah but having trouble understanding it (see picture above). Philip begins telling him the story of Jesus and how he has fulfilled the prophecies of Isaiah and the other prophets in coming to earth, dying for the sins of the world, and then being resurrected for our salvation. The man ends up giving his life to Jesus and Philip baptizes him before being whisked away by God. This is essentially what we were hoping our student leaders would do: find some friends who were interested in figuring out Jesus in community and then facilitate that in a GIG. So, Esther and I highlighted November on our calendars and prayed...

We started introducing the idea a little bit at a time back in September and October. We encouraged our students to begin talking about spiritual ideas with their friends. We took them to have evangelistic conversations with other folks in the student center. We went for prayer walks around campus. They seemed excited about reaching out to their friends but we had no idea whether or not they would actually respond to inviting their friends (or even acquaintances) into these potentially intense relational situations. On the last day of October, we held a GIG-training session and eight students (around half of our core group) showed up. Esther and I were blown away as they excitedly absorbed the information and proceeded to make phone calls a list of friends they were wanting to invite to study Jesus together. By the end of the morning, their nerves were shot but a few of them managed to set up times to meet with some of their friends. A week later, one girl had five students lined up to meet on Friday afternoons. One of our guys had arranged two separate GIGs to lead. Flash forward to halfway through November and ten of our core group members are currently leading GIGs. That means that somewhere around twenty SLU students are checking out Jesus for the first time on any given week this month. Praise God! Check back here in December to read whatever incredible stories He brings from this month. We're so proud of our courageous and faithful student leaders!

A Confession: Some Incredible News

I'm sitting in the coffeeshop I used to work at enjoying the sugar cookie of my life. Honestly, if you live in Saint Louis, venture down here sometime and get a Caramel Apple Cider with a sugar cookie on a beautiful sunny day and experience the magic for yourself. That being said, I want to begin this entry by thanking you for your prayers over the past few weeks. God has been so abundantly faithful to me in the month of October and I see your prayers as the catalyst to so many wonderful happenings over the last little while. Thanks for your love of me and of the ministry of InterVarsity at SLU. It is an honor for me to call you a friend and to have you sacrificing those two great Western idols - time and money - all for the sake of supporting a young, inexperienced missionary with a heart for sharing Jesus with college kids in Saint Louis. I thank my God every time I remember you.

I'm saving the story of Fall Conference for my prayer email update, which you will receive this week as well. But I have to confess to you a piece of incredible news that I have known for a month or so but wanted to wait to surprise you with it. When last I wrote you, I was at 50% and begging for your prayers to make it to 55% by last Thursday to increase my stipend and feel secure after quitting my job at the coffeeshop to focus on fundraising full-time. What I did not tell you at the time was that I was also in a race to raise $5000 as quickly as possible. Why this specific amount of money, you may ask? In mid-September, the Missouri state-level leadership of InterVarsity decided to use a part of some surplus money raised by my staff partner to give me a matching grant of up to $5000 (10% of my total budget) to help me get back to campus as soon as possible. What does that mean practically? In mid-September, I was at 45%. This incentive was all I needed to put my nose to the grindstone and try to meet the challenge of raising $5000 in one month. Last week, I hit my target, which put me at 55%. InterVarsity came through and matched me with a $5000 grant. That means that in one month, God answered your prayers by taking the money I raised and doubling it putting me at 65% as of this writing. Isn't that amazing? Because of your prayers, I am now within 5% ($2500) of being back on campus. God is so faithful!

I cannot even tell you how often I have wanted to email you and tell you the great news along the way. But, I decided I would wait and surprise you with this unexpected blessing after the goal was reached. I hope this confirms in your heart (and mine) how important and powerful prayer really is. I feel a bit like the disciples in the midst of collecting the baskets of fish sandwiches left over after Jesus fed the five thousand with only a little boy's lunch in hand. God truly does take whatever small things we offer to Him and multiply them to overflowing abundance. May we only learn to trust Him.

"I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it." - John 14:12-14

Mile Marker One

It's been about a month since I've updated you on ministry-related news and thoughts (though I hope some of you picked up a copy of Andrew Peterson's fantastic North! Or Be Eaten after reading my previous post). I do have a bit of news and several prayer requests to share with you.

First, today was my last day working at the coffeeshop. As you may or may not know, I have been working at a wonderful coffeeshop for nearly a year now. The job was one of those obvious oases in the midst of a lot of desert wandering and transition that took place in my life as I got used to being out of school, fundraising here and there, and beginning work in a ministry that (like all ministries) can be quite emotionally draining. The staff and working environment were encouraging and fun at a time when I needed them to be. At the same time, though I loved my job, it has proven quite an able distraction from the fundraising and ministry to which God has called me. As this school year got started, I could sense that the time was coming to transition out of the coffeeshop and into surrendering to a life of full-time fundraising so that I can get back to campus as soon as possible. This realization came with the equally strong arrival of bills and other financial constraints that also needed to be satisfied. My supervisor and I met and determined that if I could get to 55% of my budget, I could live reasonably from my InterVarsity stipend alone and be free to quit my second job. As of today, I am within 5% of that goal. In faith, I have quit the coffeeshop praying that God will move in the midst of my risk to provide the remaining 5% before October 15th so that my stipend can be increased by the end of the month and I can feel the freedom to breathe easier as I continue following Jesus in fundraising and campus ministry. Will you pray with me that God will meet me here and blow all of us away with His grace and generosity in providing for and through His people?

I have a few other prayer requests for you to consider as you lift up both me personally and the ministry of IV at SLU.

• This weekend is our annual Fall Conference. Praise God - SLU is taking 21 students! This is the most students we have ever taken to an event! Please pray that those among our students who don't know Jesus would meet him this weekend! Pray that all of the 130+ students from across Missouri in attendance would feel the call to follow Jesus in mission on campus. Pray for me and the rest of the worship team as we attempt to usher our fellow worshipers into the very throne room of God.
• Though I have reached a significant barrier in fundraising, there is still a ways to go. Please pray for the next 20% necessary for me to get back on campus would come quickly. I have set a personal goal of arriving there by November 1st. Will you join me in praying toward that goal?

I will be sure to update you as we move into Fall Conference this weekend. I'll be leading the worship team and am excited to see how God moves in the hearts of students. I wish I could transmit my excitement and heart for my students to you through this blog. Keep us your hearts as we seek the Lord this weekend.

Book Review: North! Or Be Eaten

Though this site is generally used as a blog for my ministry with InterVarsity, I thought I'd pause and insert a review of a wonderful book that I just finished. Knowing that many of you that support me have young kids or are just lovers of great storytelling, it seemed like you might benefit from a little exposure to a wonderful (though perhaps lesser known) storyteller by the name of Andrew Peterson.

For a few years now, Andrew has been my favorite singer-songwriter (he is a man of many talents). His records shine with the marriage of eloquent, profound lyrical ability and beautiful melodies that seem to destine a musician far from the radar of CCM and pop music. As one of the songs on his new record, Resurrection Letters Volume II, suggests, Andrew's music has provided a "window in the world" through which I have seen the Kingdom coming in the simple beauties that fall on our senses everyday. Last year, Andrew released a children's book entitled On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness. Being a fan of his songwriting and artistry, I wanted to support him in this new endeavor so I picked up a copy. After flying through the book in a few days' time, I turned the final page with a smile on my face. Andrew had drawn me into a world filled with strange creatures, far-off (though familiar) lands, and a heroic family that ached of that broken beauty that sits in the hearts of any of us who walk the earth in Hope of things to come. I knew that I would certainly be purchasing the second book in the series as soon as it hit the shelves.

Today, I finished the second book, North! Or Be Eaten. This time I did it with tears in my eyes.

The story has many facets that are worthy of praise and second readings. I want to highlight two for you. First, this is a story of broken people. Andrew captures an element of darkness, mystery, and tension that is at the essence of how we experience this life. Yet, so often it goes unnoticed or unspoken of in media and culture. Old and bitter family secrets abound; betrayal lurks around every corner; jealousy threatens to tear brothers apart. Redemption comes with a price and Andrew has engaged the ransom in a way that is bold in all realms of literature, let alone a children's story. Secondly, Andrew has captured what it means to be a boy better than any author I have ever read. I don't mean that as a light compliment paid to a songwriting hero of mine. I mean that as an English major with a decent familiarity with more than a few types of literature. The interactions between the brothers (Janner and Tink) in the story and the reactions and inner monologues of Janner, Andrew's major protagonist, struck me as exactly what it feels like to be a twelve-year-old boy. His insight into this mindset is uncanny and, in my opinion, unmatched. This element may be Andrew's greatest accomplishment in North! Or Be Eaten. It may sound like a small side detail, but it drew me in like I haven't been in some time.

If you have kids, or if you ever were a kid, you should make your way to your local bookstore and pick up a copy. Trust me, you will not regret it. Kudos, Andrew. This is a story that will be appreciated for generations to come.

We Knew It Was Coming

Yesterday was my first official day "off-campus." In case you are not too familiar with how the fundraising process works in InterVarsity, each staff worker is personally responsible for raising a ministry budget and salary. We gauge how far along we have come in the fundraising process in terms of the percentage of our total budget we have raised through one-time gifts and pledges. When I say I am at 41%, that means that if were June 30 (the last day of our fiscal year), I would have raised 41% of my total budget for the year. InterVarsity realizes how difficult the fundraising process is, especially for a full-time position, and therefore, in order for their staff to not become burned out in the long-term between campus ministry and fundraising full-time, they require that a staff worker be at 70% of their total budget before they engage in campus ministry. This ensures that people can do this job for a lifetime and not just collapse after a year. Staff are allowed to be involved with programming during the first two weeks of school in order to get the ball rolling, but must step away from direct involvement quickly thereafter if funds are not yet to the 70% mark. I am currently at 41% and so, though I am certainly making progress, there is still a ways to go. The first two weeks of school are past and now I will begin the process of full-time fundraising.

Technical details aside, even these first few days in have been a difficult transition. Our core group of leaders (The Edge) met last night for the first time and I was not able to be in attendance. My staff partner (Esther) handled things beautifully and we had eighteen students show up and commit to living a life of mission on campus! I was thrilled to hear the stories of the evening but being away from something I am so passionate about was incredibly difficult. I completely trust my staff partner and we have been blessed with more capable, visionary leaders than we have ever had but still, I long to be on the frontlines with them. I feel the tug on my heart for the student groups for which God has softened my heart. I seem to be standing on the sidelines; as encouraging and uplifting as coaching can be, I long to be in the game. But, I trust my supervisors and I know that God wouldn't have led me to a support-raising ministry unless He intended me to spend time raising support. Patience is the lesson and it is a bitter pill to swallow at times, but I know it will cure what ails me. I trust that God knows where we are going even when we can't see beyond these hills we tread.

Please continue praying for me as I work hard to get back to campus as soon as possible. Pray for the Edge as these eighteen students look to grow their group and take the Gospel to the far corners of campus. Pray for unity of vision and the movement of the Spirit in leading these students to the groups on campus to which Jesus would send them. Pray for strength, vision, and rest for my staff partner Esther as she does much of the leading and training of SLU InterVarsity for the time being. Pray for revival at SLU - we want to see the Kingdom come this year! Thanks for supporting us.